I am a little confused about "Pay Down" Is it permissible to pay off loans like an auto loan or mortgage in order to qualify for Medicaid?

Thanks..............

To spend down, my father put a roof on the house, siding, a new boiler and bought a new car. He wanted to be sure his wife would not have any maintenance worries. Think long-term improvements, things like a new concrete driveway, a backup generator, a good smoke detection system.

DEFINITELY WORK WITH AN ELDER LAW ATTRNEY. MANY COMMUNICATE VIA PHONE AND INTERNET/E-MAIL. THEY TELL YOU WHAT PAPERWORK, ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS, STATEMENTS ARE NEEDED. IT IS WORTHWHILE MAKING THE TRIP TO SIT WITH A GOOD ELDER LAW ATTORNEY. YOU NEED TO BE PROPERLY INFORMED AND NOT SORRY LATER....GOOD LUCK

The elder law attorney is worth the money; and worth a drive to the next town if need be. Actually, the fellow we used, came to my parent's house both times he needed them present for signatures, etc., even though his main office is a good an 50 minute drive away. For the simple stuff, I drive to closest location.

There will be some within your state. Google for ones in your state capital or other big cities. Ones that are NAELA tend to have practices statewide.

Our town does not have an Elder Law Attorney..

Really for " community spouse" Medicaid applications the rules are very different and an elder law attorney can come up with options that will work best for your situation and your state. For CS situations usually the state does a snapshot day in which your assets are based. So you need to get things done & cleared before that. it's easy to overlook things especially if you are also dealing with day to day caregiving. An elder law attorney will be invaluable for this for you. Good luck.

To plan accurately for your future if your spouse enters a nursing home and has to go to Medicaid to pay for his care, you SIMPLY MUST make an appointment with an elder law attorney to protect yourself.

Don't make the mistake of being penny wise and dollar foolish by trying to save the little money it will cost you to get professional advice.

Gather all of your financial information together, life insurance policies, a list of your assets and sit down with an expert who's relatively small fee can save you tens of thousands of dollars;.